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Review: War for the Planet of Apes (2017)

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A Perfect Finish Score: 8/10 The film takes colours from different films, mythologies and history.  It starts with showing how a few apes have already sided with the humans losing all hopes of winning a war against their modern weaponry. Caesar tries to keep it calm until a betrayal begins a chain of events that leads to having his family killed. The whole 140 minutes relies on Caesar’s journey to Colonel to avenge his family, their capture and a war that eventually makes the earth a planet of apes. The realism carried in the character sketch of the ideal leader Caesar, his slogan, his war keeping up the moral integrity at the same time carrying an emotionally deep understanding to his motivation is a straight reminiscent of Moses leading Israelites to freedom from slavery. Woody’s character as the colonel with a cheeky maniacal fashioned avatar talking with convincing statements on his actions reminds you of the Brando’s much more demonic and psychotic Kurtz in A...

The Last Letter

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I have used the word “last letter” many times before, I know. It is something to do with you though, I keep coming back and write you one more letter. I have “Desperately” by Don Williams playing in the background as I write this letter, the song which we used to sing for each other, only this time it is our memories who is singing. We met on the fateful night of 21 st  February, 2007, to change each other’s life forever. I have probably impacted your life more than anyone. I’m sure John (current boyfriend) will leave me behind in a couple of years or possibly, already has. We started our roller coaster ride which touched more lows than highs. Through them all, what kept us together was the new feeling we kept experiencing, it was beautiful and it was refreshing, even the fights. But it finally reached a point beyond repair when I thought calling it off is the only good thing. Life is strange, it still kept making us meet in the most unbelievable co-incidences for sometime...

Siblings and the Rain

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Mukundan and the Art of Letting Go

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Today, as I was having my lunch, my eyes went to a well drawn tattoo  almost completely under the sleeves on his triceps,  of my colleague sitting across the table. The tattoo was of a horned gigantic male sheep, ram. I asked him, what importance does it carry in his life and he was more than happy to explain it to me, giving an impression that not many must have asked him the question. He told me, when he was growing up, his family owned a lot of rams in the village, and that, he considers them very brave and powerful. This took me immediately to the time my dad used to come to me doing “hmm hmm” when I was as young as only 6 years old until I was about 16. He used to come to me some days when I was studying, and make “hmm hmm” sounds, squeezing his lips inside his mouth and pressuring my finger nails with his tight fisted knuckles. It was around my early adolescence I suppose, I once asked him, “Why do you keep doing this pappa? The sounds you make and the pressure to ...

WeeView: The Fits (2015)

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The film doesn't really carry a full fledged narrative with a conclusion, instead it just follows the life of a little girl who wants to be a part of the dancing team where one after another everyone is having fits. She slowly feels the fear creeping in, until she finally gets the fits as well, after which she feels free. It is more of a philosophical commentary depicted in an over-simplified manner, with flawless acting.

WeeView: Embrace of the Serpent (2015)

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This is possibly the most in depth stories one may have ever heard related to the expeditions of the 2 scientists who traveled the Amazon to study their culture and tribe extensively, ultimately for their selfish goals, though never getting there. Its also a beautiful study of human character, how the greed has eaten up the earth and how the lives of the tribal population can teach us a handful of lessons on how to keep in sync with the nature, at least in these times of global breaking point of the environment.

WeeView: Cemetery of Splendor (2015)

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Like his previous film, uncle Bonhomee, even this carries a story telling which includes many scenes with cryptic social commentary on thai politics. This film, is like being in someone else's dream, there is an image of one guy taking a dump, now one may wonder how does that help. As Sheila puts it, "This is the potential of cinema, to show us experiences that lie beyond words. There is value in conventional narrative, and value in a good story told well. But being prescriptive about what cinema is, or what a good story needs in order to be effective, contracts the possibilities of the medium."